critical hit
by splendidlyimperfect
Summary: When Sting tells Natsu that one of his friends from school is going to be joining their weekly Dungeons & Dragons game, Natsu isn't impressed - their table is already full. But while Natsu and Gray's in-game characters clash completely, Natsu finds that real-life Gray might not be that bad after all.
1. Chapter 1

It was Dungeons and Dragons night, everything was a disaster, and Sting was really starting to regret listening to Natsu.

"Get out of there!" he shouted to Rogue, who crouched behind one of the cultists, bloodstained daggers gripped tightly in his hands. Rogue nodded and a silvery mist rose up from the ground, shrouding him and then dispersing once he disappeared.

Sting growled, hefting his greatsword in both hands and surveying the battlefield. They'd taken out three of the cultists, but five still remained - two of them still at the altar, attempting to complete the summoning ritual.

"Pelor guide me," Sting murmured, kissing his blade and then charging at the nearest cultist. He felt the light of his deity flow through him, imbuing his attacks with holy light as he struck out.

"Duck!" Natsu's voice came through the ruckus and Sting cursed, looking around wildly to find his friend. Natsu's red robes made him easy to spot – they matched the smattering of scales that ran down his temples and arms and marked him as one of the dragonborn. Currently, a ball of lighting was forming between Natsu's hands.

"Don't you da-"

Lightning crashed down around him and Sting cursed, summoning a shimmering sphere of magic to protect him from the blasts. The cultist in front of him cried out in pain, taking a bolt directly to the chest and practically exploding in front of Sting.

"Gross," Sting muttered, wiping splashes of blood and gore from his silver chestplate. He looked over at Natsu, who was grinning like an idiot and readying himself for another spell. "Stop them!" Sting shouted, pointing toward the altar.

It was too late. The magic between the two cultists coalesced, then expanded and absorbed both of them into its inky miasma. Sting watched with horror as the darkness bubbled, growing up and up until it towered over them and began to take shape.

It was a demon. An enormous demon – it towered at least fifteen feet tall, with horns like a ram's protruding from its skull, and claws that were half the length of Sting's forearm. Cloven hooves dug into the ground, and the demon bared its teeth, roaring into the sky.

"Well, fuck." Natsu said. Sting looked over to see the sorcerer standing next to him, while Rogue materialized quickly on his other side. Natsu looked up to Sting and grinned, a ball of fire forming in his right hand. "Sorry about the lightning."

"No you aren't," Sting grumbled, and Natsu laughed, shaking his head.

"Not really," he conceded, looking back at the demon. It glared at them, reddish eyes set into its monstrous face. "I'm out of lightning, but how does a fireball sound?"

"It _sounds_ like you're a moron."

o.o.o.o.o.o.

Sting leaned onto the D&D table and sighed in exasperation.

"You are a _sorcerer."_ Sting glared at Natsu, gesturing to the numbers on the character sheet in front of him. "You have like, eight hit points, and if you charge into one more goddamn fight face-first I'm not going to heal you and you're gonna have to roll a new character."

"Oh, c'mon," Natsu replied, grinning at his cousin. He grabbed a Dorito from the bag in front of him and used it to gesture at Sting. "You love my hot-headed personality."

"He really doesn't," Rogue replied, popping an M&M into his mouth. He turned to Gray, who was sitting at the opposite side of the table and picking at the edge of his character sheet. "Yes, they're always like this. No, it never ends well."

Gray laughed nervously, chewing his lip. Natsu glanced across the table at him, breaking his banter with Sting for a moment. When Sting had mentioned that his friend from school would be joining their weekly D&D session, Natsu had been less than impressed – their group had been fine just the way it was. But now that Gray was here, with his dark hair and his soft lips and pretty eyes, Natsu was starting to think he didn't mind.

"Are you two done?" Erza raised her eyebrows at Sting and Natsu, her face partially hidden behind the cardboard screen she used to hide her own dice-rolling from the group. Natsu wasn't sure she was always honest about the numbers she rolled behind it, but as the Dungeon Master she had control over the entire game, and he really didn't want to piss her off.

Erza had been the one to get the group together two years ago, and they'd barely missed a week since. Natsu had never played before Sting invited him to join, but the mechanics of the game had been easy to pick up. The role playing was his favorite part – he could be anyone when they played. A daring fighter, a cautious druid, or, in this case, a cocky sorcerer with only eight hit points left.

"Ready to keep going?" Erza asked. She had a look on her face that Natsu wasn't particularly fond of. It usually meant that their party was going to get fucked.

"If _someone_ agrees to stop trying to be a big damn hero," Sting grumbled, flicking Natsu's ear. Natsu swatted his hand away, grabbing his energy drink and chugging it before tapping on his character sheet.

"Let's do this," he said, grinning at Sting, who was glaring at him. "We've got a demon to kill."

o.o.o.o.o.o.

The demon snorted at them, shaking its bull-like head and flexing its enormous, clawed hands. Natsu felt the fire in his hand crackling between his fingers, and he grinned, turning to Sting.

"C'mon," he said, raising his eyebrows. "We can take it. Don't be such a pessimist."

"I'm surprised you know a word that big," Sting muttered. The holy symbol of Pelor on his breastplate was obscured by smears of blood, but it was still a bright reminder of his paladin's oath.

"Would you two knock it off?" Rogue hissed. His dark leather cuirass was scratched and stained, and there was a streak of blood on his cheek from an earlier fight. "Are we killing this thing or not?"

"Yes," Sting sighed. "Just, for the love of Tyr, let me take the lea—"

"Fireball!" Natsu shouted, pushing both hands out in front of him and launching an enormous ball of flames at the demon. It roared in pain as the explosion hit right at its feet, knocking it backward and singeing the dark fur that covered most of its body. It turned to glare at Natsu, snorting and pawing at the ground with its two cloven hooves.

"You fucking-" Sting gripped his greatsword in both hands and charged past Natsu, shoving him out of the way and rushing at the demon. He dodged its sharp claws, swinging his sword around and grunting as the blade sliced into the demon's thick hide. Rogue materialized on the other side of the demon, daggers flashing as he attacked. As quickly as Rogue had appeared, he vanished into the shadows, evading the demon's horns.

The demon reared up and lashed out at Sting, razor-sharp claws descending on him. He ducked out of the way, breathing a sigh of relief when they dug down into the dirt instead of his chest.

"Natsu, look out!" Sting looked up to see Rogue shouting from the shadows, and Natsu staring cockily at the demon, which was digging its hooves into the ground again. "Get out of there, you arrogant motherfu-"

Rogue's warning was cut off by the demon charging toward Natsu, dirt flying up behind it. Natsu's eyes widened and he moved to jump out of the way, but tripped on a loose rock and fell to his knees.

"Natsu!" Sting shouted, starting to run toward his friend even though he wouldn't make it in time. "Move!"

A blast of cold startled Sting and he skidded to a stop as an enormous wall of ice rushed past him, cutting in front of Natsu at the last second and blocking the demon. The ice cracked under the impact of the beast's heavy horns, but didn't fall.

"What the-" Natsu looked over with wide eyes to see a young, dark-haired boy in deep blue wizard's garb standing with his hands outstretched, snowflakes drifting down around him. "Who the hell are you?"

o.o.o.o.o.o.

Natsu looked across the table as he spoke, making eye contact for a second with Gray before Gray looked down, his cheeks flushed a light pink. Gray picked at the rim of his coffee cup, turning it around in his hands.

_He's fucking adorable,_ Natsu thought, taking in the scar on Gray's forehead, the way his hair fell across his face, his faded t-shirt with some videogame logo on it. His thumbnails were painted bright purple, and Natsu realized they matched the plugs in his earlobes.

He wondered absently if Gray was gay. Sting had never mentioned it – but he also hadn't mentioned how attractive Gray was either. An oversight on his part, clearly. Natsu knew that Sting was completely enamored with Rogue, but Sting had to be blind to not see that Gray was hot as hell.

Natsu shook his head. Sure, Gray was hot, but Natsu needed to stay in character. His sorcerer's pride was generally his downfall, and he would never tolerate being saved by some stranger, even if he was pretty.

"I, um," Gray stuttered, looking down at his character sheet. He took a deep breath and looked up at Natsu again.

o.o.o.o.o.o.

"We can talk later," the ice wizard replied, holding a hand out and staring intently at the demon. He looked at Sting and nodded his head. "You'd better get him out of the way."

Sting frowned, but when he saw an icy cloud forming over the demon's head, he dashed over to Natsu and grabbed him by the back of his robes, dragging him away. The wizard closed his eyes and dropped his hand, and chunks of rock-hard ice began to plummet downward, pelting the demon and drawing gashes through its hide.

"Hey!" Natsu shouted indignantly, yanking himself out of Sting's grasp and summoning another ball of fire in his hands. He pushed the flames outward, melting a hole in the ice wall and scowling at the boy. "We have this under control!"

"Doesn't look like it," the boy grumbled, continuing to rain down hail on the demon. It roared and lashed out at Rogue, who dodged the horns again by disappearing and reappearing next to Sting.

"We can handle-" Natsu shouted as the fire in his hand suddenly turned on him, catching his sleeve on fire and quickly rushing up to his chest. To his shock, his robes disintegrated under the intense flame, and seconds later he was standing in front of the wall of ice, completely naked. "What the-"

o.o.o.o.o.o.

"-actual fuck?" Natsu stared down at the number "1" staring up at him from the face of his twenty-sided die. "You," muttered at the die, "are going in the shame corner." He flicked it into a small area between him and Sting that was cordoned off with pens and designated for the 'dice that tried to kill them.' It already held four other dice.

"You know the rules," Erza snickered from behind her barrier. "Roll a one, something bad happens."

Natsu's dice rolled to a stop and Sting looked down at it, laughing. "It landed on a twenty." Natsu groaned and dropped his face into his hands.

"So... I'm naked," he said, glaring at Erza, who was hiding her face and laughing behind her screen. This was the part of the game that was both fun and frustrating – Erza had the power to make up whatever consequences she felt like. And apparently tonight she felt like embarrassing Natsu in front of Gray.

"Can I make a check to see if I can grab the Bag of Holding before it bursts into flames?" Sting asked, crossing his fingers. Erza contemplated for a second, then nodded. Sting tossed his die across the table – his was white and sparkly – and it landed on a "17".

"All right, you manage to snatch the bag, which contains all of your potions and scrolls, before it catches on fire as well." Erza gestured for Sting to mark down the bag on his character sheet.

"Which still leaves me naked," Natsu grumbled. He glanced up at Gray, who was giving him a shy smile. Natsu felt his cheeks flush hot and he dropped his gaze back to the new dice that he'd pulled from his bag - hot pink this time.

"Maybe you should have listened to the paladin," Rogue said, smirking. "Now you're almost definitely going to die."

o.o.o.o.o.o.

Natsu glanced down at his naked body, sighing in resignation. At least he still had his magic – he could feel it coursing through him, tingling along the scales on his arms and chest.

"You should probably run," Rogue said, glancing between Natsu and the demon.

"I am not _running,"_ Natsu hissed. "I am a champion of Fiore, and I'm going to fight this goddamn-"

"Shut the hell up and get out my way," Sting growled, charging in again as the ice storm dissipated. He leaped through the hole Natsu had created, then thrust his sword forward directly into the beast's chest, driving the blade inward as it exploded with holy light. The demon howled in rage and pain, flailing at Sting, but Sting's heavy armor blocked its blows.

Rogue disappeared again in a silvery mist, leaving Natsu standing alone, naked and unimpressed on the other side of the ice wall.

Before he could come up with another spell to help his friends, the demon was dead. The ice wall shattered and dissolved, leaving Natsu with a view of Sting, standing next to the creature with his sword buried in its chest. Even Natsu could admit that Sting was impressive, his plate mail gleaming with holy light as he spoke a prayer of thanks to his deity.

"Told you we had it under control," Natsu said, turning to the ice wizard, who was standing off to the side and looking at him strangely. Rogue turned to Natsu, scowling at him in exasperation.

"When someone saves your life, you usually say thank you," Rogue said. He wiped the blood from his daggers and sheathed them.

"I didn't need saving!" Natsu protested, waving his arms and then remembering that he was completely nude.

"Don't be rude," Sting said, pulling his sword out of the demon. It dripped with black ichor and he made a face. "You would have died without his help and you know it." Natsu grumbled. "What's your name?" The question was directed at the wizard.

"Gray," the boy responded. He looked over at Natsu again, then shrugged his bag off his shoulder, digging around in it and pulling out what looked like a set of clothes. "You could probably use these," he said, offering them up.

Natsu looked at the clothes hesitantly. The stubborn part of him didn't want to accept help from Gray _again,_ but the other part of him wasn't enjoying standing around naked. He took them begrudgingly, muttering a short _thanks._

"I'm Sting, paladin of Pelor." Sting gestured to the symbol on his breastplate. "This is Rogue, and... well, you've met Natsu."

Natsu scowled at Sting as he awkwardly hopped into the clothing Gray had given him. They weren't as nice as his sorcerer's robes – and he'd just had those enchanted – but it was better than being naked.

"And I've given you my name," Gray said, leaning on his staff. "I was sent here by the High House of Magic to investigate cult activity in the area. I seem to have found it." Sting nodded, gesturing back to the demon.

"This demon was strong, but it wasn't their endgame," he said. "They're looking to bring back one of the ancient demon lords to our realm. The cult is planning to summon Baphomet."

o.o.o.o.o.o.

"Well, I think that's a good place to call it!" Erza closed her book and folded up her screen, revealing a pile of rainbow-colored dice in front of her. Natsu yawned and stretched, glancing at his phone – it was already eleven.

"We good for next Sunday?" he asked, even though he knew the question wasn't really necessary. Then he remembered Gray and looked over at him, raising his eyebrows. Gray looked confused for a second, then glanced down at his phone and nodded.

"Y-yeah," he said. "I'm, um, always free Sundays." He glanced up at everyone, smiling. "Thanks for letting me join you."

"Well if you hadn't joined, _someone_ would probably be dead," Sting joked, elbowing Natsu. Natsu rolled his eyes, grabbing his die out of the corner of shame and glaring at it.

"You'd better behave next week," he muttered, tossing it into his dice bag.

"As if it was the dice's fault and not yours," Rogue said, raising an eyebrow. Natsu looked offended, but didn't argue.

"Um... what's your address?" Gray looked up at Natsu, phone in one hand. "I need to put it- for the Uber?"

"Oh!" Natsu frowned. Erza usually drove Sting and Rogue home, but they lived on the other end of the city – Sting had mentioned that Gray lived on campus. It was a twenty-minute drive from Natsu's house, and if Gray was a student, he probably didn't have the money to be paying for an Uber every week. "I can, uh, drive you home."

Gray looked surprised, blinking at Natsu a few times and then brushing his hair out of his eyes. "Y-you don't have to, it's not- it's kinda far, I don't mind-"

"Don't be silly," Natsu insisted, steadfastly ignoring Sting kicking his ankle under the table. "I don't work tomorrow morning anyway." That was a blatant lie and everyone at the table except Gray knew it – Natsu usually insisted that they didn't play too late because Monday mornings were his early shift.

"Oh. Thanks." Gray dropped his gaze back to his books as he packed them into his bag, but a small smile crept across his face. Natsu managed to ignore the amused expressions of his friends as he ushered them all upstairs.

The drive was mostly quiet. Gray didn't talk much, and when he did it was soft, short answers to Natsu's questions. Natsu managed to find out that Gray was studying theatre, that he played lots of videogames, that he loved sci fi, and his favorite TV series was Star Trek: The Next Generation.

_He's your fucking dream guy_, Natsu's brain screamed, and he tried valiantly to ignore it as he pulled up to Gray's dorm building. He barely knew Gray, had no idea if he was even interested in guys, and was having a hard time getting a read on him.

"Thanks for the ride," Gray said softly, tugging his toque down over his hair and smiling. "I guess, uh, see you next week? What time should I be there?"

"I can pick you up," Natsu blurted, words coming out in an unexpected rush. Gray looked surprised and Natsu frantically wracked his brain to think of a logical reason for offering that wasn't _you're super cute and I wanna keep talking to you._ "I, uh... visit. Family. We have food... lunch? So it's, um, on my way, to go... back."

Shit, now he had to fess up to Sting and convince him to _not_ tell Gray that all of Natsu's family lived three hours away from here. Gray's smile made it worth it, though.

"Okay," Gray said, playing with the strap of his backpack. "I'll, uh... I can buy you a coffee?"

"Sure," Natsu said, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel and grinning. "Sounds good. See you on Sunday."


	2. Chapter 2

"Don't be such a fucking baby."

Sting ran his hand over the deep gashes on Natsu's arms, ignoring Natsu's pained grumbles as the skin stitched itself back together. The holy light surrounding Sting slowly dissipated, and he sighed, slumping back onto the log by the fire.

"'m not a baby," Natsu grumbled, shoving up the too-long sleeves of his borrowed shirt. "It hurts." He sighed, poking himself in the ribs and wincing. "Everything hurts."

"Well maybe," Rogue said, poking their campfire with a stick, "and this is just a hypothesis, mind you, but have you considered possibly not throwing yourself head-first into every enemy we find?"

Gray snorted, looking up across the fire at Natsu. He was entertaining himself by causing small snow flurries to blow from his hands and flutter gently around them.

"Well, that's as much as I can do for now," Sting said. He'd taken off his heavy armor and was now leaning back by the fire in his padded jacket and leggings. His own face was still dotted with blood, smeared from him wiping it with the back of his hand.

"Thanks," Natsu said quietly, poking Sting with his foot. He winced at the bruising in his ribs, then brought his hand up and touched his swollen jaw.

"Here." Gray stood up, crossing around the fire and sitting down next to Natsu. Ice formed along the palm of his hand and he raised it up to Natsu's cheek.

"Ouch." Natsu winced and Gray made an apologetic face. He was so close now that he could see each individual scale that curved over Natsu's temples and down to his chin.

"Sorry," Gray said, frowning at the various cuts and bruises that dotted Natsu's face. "You really took a beating." He brushed Natsu's bangs out of his face and made a face at the bruise that ran around Natsu's left eye. "How'd you manage—"

"He got punched in the face," Rogue drawled, leaning back and warming his feet by the fire. "It was actually right before—"

o.o.o.o.o.o

"Y'know, that story is really not important." Natsu interrupted. He glared at Rogue, who shook his head and laughed. Gray frowned, rolling his dice between his fingers. "We should just move on, it's..."

"He was trying to seduce one of the cultists," Sting explained, looking at Gray over his coffee cup. Natsu groaned and ran a hand over his face. "Which is amazing, because he was actually actively _trying_ to avoid combat for once in his life."

"Look, he had important information that you _said_ I wasn't allowed to set on fire." Natsu grumbled, elbowing Sting and reaching into the center of the table to grab a handful of gummy bears.

Gray looked curiously at Natsu. His bright pink hair was shoved under a toque today, but it was still the brightest part of him. Except for his smile. Right now, he was scowling, but Gray had to admit that was pretty cute, too. He was even pouting a little, and—

"...ray?"

Gray blinked, realizing that he'd zoned out staring at Natsu's lips. Shit. "Yeah, um, I... sorry. Just. T-tired?" No, that wasn't right, because then they'd ask if he wanted to stop early tonight and he absolutely did not want to, he wanted to spend as much time across the table from Natsu as possible. "But, um, coffee!"

Gray reached for his cup but accidentally knocked it over, cursing and quickly grabbing his character sheet out of the way before it could get soaked. Erza quickly handed him a paper towel and he took it gratefully, wiping up the mess and blotting at his jeans.

"Good priorities." Natsu grinned at him, gesturing to the character sheet in Gray's hand. Gray tried to force out a laugh, but he could feel his cheeks burning. Natsu probably thought he was a moron.

"Shall we get back on track?" Erza asked, looking at them all over her screen and rolling her eyes.

"But Gray hasn't heard the best part of the story yet!" Sting protested. "'cause Natsu rolled a one, accidentally grabbed the cultist's dick, and managed to get punched in the face-"

o.o.o.o.o.o

_"-and_ he burned down most of the tower with all the information we were trying to get." Sting warmed his hands on the fire, looking over at Natsu and laughing.

"Fuck you guys," Natsu grumbled, jumping when Gray pressed his hand to the bruise and let a cool sheen of ice spread over it. His skin was so warm that the ice melted almost instantaneously, but he sighed in relief anyway. "Thanks."

Gray nodded, giving him a small smile, then turned back to Sting and Rogue. "So, what information do you have on Baphomet?"

Their discussion carried late into the night, voices hushed around the crackling campfire. They took turns keeping watch, with Natsu setting up a series of glyphs to warn them if any cultists decided to retaliate. None did, and Gray woke the next morning to a muted pink sunrise that crept through the trees.

Everyone else was still asleep, and Gray yawned, settling himself down next to the campfire and pulling out his spellbook.

"Morning." Natsu's voice broke Gray out of his reverie nearly half an hour later. "Sleep okay?"

"Mhmm," Gray replied, rubbing his eyes. Natsu yawned, stretching and then moving to warm his hands by the fire. He looked over to where Sting and Rogue were still snoring beside the tree, then peeked over Gray's shoulder curiously, examining his spellbook.

"Whatcha doing?"

"I picked this up off one of the cultists," Gray explained, gesturing to a scroll that sat on the ground next to him. "I'm trying to figure it out, but I don't recognize the language."

Natsu settled down next to Gray and examined the spell. "It's Draconic," he said, picking up the sheet of parchment and scanning the script. "I can read it." Gray looked at him, surprised, and Natsu raised an eyebrow. "Part dragon, remember?"

Gray groaned – he was such an idiot, of course Natsu could read Draconic. "Sorry, I-"

"If I help you with this, are we square for yesterday?"

Gray rolled his eyes. "Fine, but if you're really as reckless as your friends make you out to be, you'll be helping me with a lot of spells in the future."

Natsu snorted, running his fingers along the paper and reading the words under his breath. Gray stared at him curiously.

"Your magic," he said hesitantly. "It really comes from dragons?"

"Yep." Natsu held a hand out and summoned a small flame, grinning and adding it to the campfire. "Don't need books like this. Igneel taught me all the magic I need."

"Igneel?" Gray moved his spellbook away from Natsu's flames cautiously, and contemplated grabbing the scroll from him as well.

"The dragon who trained me," Natsu explained, as if it was a perfectly natural thing to say. "Don't know you know anything about sorcerers?"

"Not much," Gray admitted, turning to sit facing Natsu. Natsu's scales ran down his cheeks, almost to the corner of his eyes, and they contrasted starkly against his dark skin. They made him look fierce. Wild.

Gray liked it.

o.o.o.o.o.o

A sharp ringing broke the tension of the game and Sting made a face, grabbing his phone from the table.

"Sorry," he said, standing from the table. "Work, I'll be right back."

"We might as well take a break," Erza said, standing from her chair and grabbing her own phone. Rogue stood, reaching out for Gray's cup and raising his eyebrows.

"Oh. Yeah, th-thanks," he said. Rogue took it and headed upstairs to the kitchen, leaving Natsu and Gray alone at the table.

They sat in silence for a moment, Gray focusing on the purple dice that Natsu was spinning between his fingers.

"So are you-"

"How was-"

Gray laughed hesitantly and rubbed the back of his neck as they both spoke at the same time. He scribbled in the corner of his character sheet, glancing up at Natsu, who was smiling at him.

"What's that?" Natsu asked, pointing to the small, leather-bound book that sat next to Gray's dice. Gray felt his cheeks flush as he ran his fingers over the cover.

"My, uh… my spellbook," he said quietly. "It's kinda silly, I- there's apps on the phone and stuff, to look the spells up, but, uh, I just kinda—"

"Can I see it?" Natsu's eyes were curious and Gray hesitated before handing the book over. He had spent hours on it – transcribing spells from the handbook into neat calligraphy, adding words in a different language to make it seem more real.

"It's just—"

"This is so cool!" Natsu exclaimed. He ran his fingers along the pages, eyes bright with excitement. "You made this? Yourself?" He looked up at Gray, who nodded shyly. "This is awesome. I wish I could- I mean, sorcerers don't have spellbooks, but if I did..." He handed the book back to Gray.

"Thanks," Gray said, giving Natsu a soft smile. "My brother always calls it my, uh, my geek book."

"Pff." Natsu waved dismissively. "Your brother sounds like an asshole."

Gray laughed. "He is kind of an asshole," he agreed, "but I do have a lot of… stuff. That he thinks is stupid."

"Who cares what he thinks," Natsu said earnestly, locking eyes with Gray. "I think you're—"

"All right, we good?" Sting asked, reappearing at the bottom of the stairs. Natsu cut himself off, leaning back in his chair and looking intently at his dice, and Gray was almost certain he wasn't imagining the pink blush that dusted Natsu's cheeks.

"Yeah," Natsu said, kicking Sting in the shin as he walked by. "We're good."

o.o.o.o.o.o

After Natsu translated the spell, Gray began to practice it, weaving the magic through his fingers and reciting the words softly under his breath. Natsu watched him intently and Gray tried to ignore it, although he could feel heat in his cheeks, and he slipped up more than once, dropping the crystals he was using and shattering them.

_"Vi-vilzr…"_ He stammered over the unfamiliar word, glaring at it. Why did it have to be Draconic? It was the least attractive language Gray had ever heard, and the most difficult to pronounce.

_"Vilzreiquath,"_ Natsu corrected. Gray blinked, looking up at him. The word sounded much nicer coming from Natsu. _"Vil-zrei-quath."_

Gray repeated it a few times, slowly becoming more familiar with the syllables. Once Natsu nodded at him, satisfied with the pronunciation, Gray moved onto the next word.

_"Lsau,"_ he murmured. That one was easier, at least. Gray could feel the magic under his skin now, weaving between his fingers and charging the air around him with static energy. _"Lsau wkar."_

The static coalesced and formed into a fist-sized globe of ice that hovered over Gray's hand, surrounded by tiny snowflakes that danced around it and fell to the ground.

"Huh." Natsu crouched down and peered at it, eyebrow raised. "Doesn't look very exciting for all that work."

Gray snorted, closing his hand and dismissing the globe. "You won't be saying that when it saves your ass later."

"Yeah, right," Natsu said, rolling his eyes and standing up. "Yesterday was a one-off."

"Uh-huh," Gray replied. He looked over to where Sting was sitting up, yawning and rubbing his face. Rogue was still face-first on the ground, snoring quietly.

"Don't believe me?" Natsu asked, brow setting stubbornly. "I could kick your ass any day." Flames licked up his arms and reflected eerily off his scales.

"Sure you could," Gray replied dismissively. Frost crept over the back of his hands, thousands of snowflakes intertwining to form a thin barrier over his skin.

"Why don't we find out?" Natsu said, stepping forward belligerently.

"For the love of Pelor, do you have _any_ sense of self-preservation?" Sting grumbled. He was standing now, stretching and glaring at Natsu, who grumbled and put out his flames. Gray backed down as well, feeling slightly embarrassed.

"I was just—"

"We need to work together," Sting said, cuffing Natsu across the back of the head before sitting down next to the fire. "It's going to take all of us – and a whole lot of prayer – if we wanna make it through this alive."

o.o.o.o.o.o

An uneasy quiet hung over the group and Gray glanced over at Sting, whose expression was solemn. Gray was surprised by how well this group role-played. The other D&D group he'd been involved with had been fun, but they'd been more interested in killing things than acting as their characters.

"Should I leave the room?" Erza raised an eyebrow at Sting over the top of her DM screen and he nodded, tapping his fingers on his character sheet. She stood up and motioned to her dice. "Don't touch my shit."

"We don't have a death wish," Rogue muttered, ducking his head at the glare Erza shot his way.

Once she was out of the room, Sting looked around at the group.

"All right," he said, gesturing to the map in front of them. "Here's the plan..."

o.o.o.o.o.o

By the time the four of them reached the top floor of the ruined keep, they were bloody and exhausted. Sting held his injured left arm against his chest, and leaned on Rogue, who was also breathing heavily. Natsu wiped blood from his forehead, resting against the wall and sighing.

"I've only got a couple healing potions left," he said, digging through his bag and tossing one at Sting. "Drink up."

Sting nodded in thanks and swallowed the thick red liquid, making a face at the bitter taste. The magic coursed through him and he sighed in relief and flexed his arm.

"Pelor, bless us and give new life to our souls," he murmured quietly, closing his eyes and putting out his hands. A soft, white glow emanated from him and surrounded the party, wiping away the worst of their wounds and leaving them somewhat less exhausted.

Gray leaned on his staff, looking over at Natsu with concern. Natsu was still making a pained face, but as soon as he saw Gray looking, he transformed it into a grin.

"Everyone ready?" Rogue asked, twirling one of his daggers in his hand. It crackled and sparked with arcane energy, and it lit up his face with a bluish glow.

"Let's do this," Natsu said, for once hanging back as Sting pushed forward, placing his hand on the latch only after Rogue had thoroughly searched the area. Sting looked back at the party one last time, then shoved the door open and stumbled out onto the roof.

It was a nightmare. The center of the roof was occupied by what looked like an enormous tree, but instead of bark there was flesh. Gray's stomach roiled as he watched blood drip down the branches, leaving deep red patterns on the stone below it.

"Get the prisoners!" Natsu's voice snapped Gray out of his reverie and he looked around wildly, realizing that thick, iron chains were staked into the tree, then led to several groups of terrified-looking people who were being held in some sort of magical stasis. A thin, shimmering strand of energy led back along the ground, and Gray realized that the chains were siphoning the life-force from the prisoners.

Gray's hand went to the spellbook at his hip and he flipped through it, using his other hand to dig through his reagent pouch. _Fur, amber, three silver pins._ He knew these spells off by heart. Looking over at the cultists near the closest group of prisoners, he held out his hand and whispered, _"torquem fulgur."_

Lighting leapt from his fingertips and struck the nearest cultist directly in the chest, dropping him to the ground before he had time to react. Three more bolts leapt from his corpse to the others around him, killing them instantly as well.

Gray dashed across the rooftop to the nearest group, cursing when he realized that they were surrounded by an invisible barrier. The people inside shouted at him, banging against the wall, and he placed his hands on the surface.

_"Irritum magicae,"_ he murmured, concentrating as hard as he could into pushing the magic away. It fought against him for a moment, but he growled and shoved back, eventually forcing it away. "Get out of here, through the door," he panted, pulling the prisoners to their feet and gesturing back the way he'd come. "Run."

Nobody argued, and Gray turned to move onto the next group. He could see from the corner of his eye that Natsu and Rogue had freed two other groups, and Sting was next to the tree, deep in combat with several cultists and a demonic-looking figure.

"Shit," Gray muttered. There were only three groups of prisoners left, and Natsu looked like he was doing well. Gray turned to help Sting instead, who was slowly being overwhelmed. Gray dashed forward through the rubble and mess of flesh and bark, summoning the globe of snow from earlier in his hand.

_"Vilzreiquath lsau wkar,"_ he muttered, hoping to hell he was pronouncing it right. The snowglobe streaked out of his hand until it was hovering, centered between Sting and the cultists. He then grabbed Sting's shoulder, crushing a clear gemstone from his reagant pouch between his fingers.

A wall of force leapt into existence around him and Sting just as the snowglobe between the monsters exploded, blasting around them and pummeling the monsters with a heavy rain of sharp ice. Blood streaked the ground around them as the ice shards sliced right through the cultists, ripping them to shreds.

"Thanks," Sting gasped, wiping his face and hefting his sword. He looked exhausted, breathing heavily and spitting blood on the ground.

"I'm almost out of magic," Gray said, keeping the wall up around them. Through it he could see Natsu and Rogue freeing the last of the prisoners, and the lines of energy back to the flesh tree began to dissipate. "We need to retreat a bit. I can pull us over to the other two, but that's about all I can do for now."

"No," Sting said, shaking his head as he watched the demon growl and stomp. The tree behind the beast warped and twisted, opening up to reveal three more cultists, carrying a dark red stone between them.

Gray watched in horror as the stone began to glow and blood-red light spilled from it, coalescing into a portal that stretched taller than the tree. His fingers tightened on Sting's shoulder as the portal widened, and a set of horns began to protrude from it, black and twisted and longer than his arm.

"Shit," Gray whispered. "We're too late."


End file.
